Comments on: Aviz

By: why am I here?

why am I here? — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:35:54 +0000

Oh, should I mention that packages can be picked up in Bucharest?? Heck, it could be worth it if you make frequent visits…

By: Romer!can

Romer!can — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:10:37 +0000

Jaana – Tervetuloa! Welcome to the show! Let’s hope the great statue in Targu Mures is still embiggened, then, shall we? Quite. I’m glad you managed to find a useful scrap of info here and there hiding in and amongst the filler. I am very glad to have your corroboration that receiving packages in Romania is a bloody nightmare of epic proportions throughout most of the country, because Posta Romana refuses to modernize its policies to reflect modern concepts like personal liberty and privacy or amazing new concepts such as customer service in light of increased competition within the package delivery space, their performance within which will determine whether the institution even survives beyond 20 years into the future.

Oh, yes! And the paperwork. You’re absolutely correct. The endless glancing and murmuring, the constant shuffling and flipping of papers, the persistent flowing of ink from the pen which denotes all manner of things. Have you seen the rubber gloves lately? It may only be in Bucuresti, for all I know, but now the robotic package handling staff wear rubber gloves ….in case of… I don’t know… anthrax in Pantelimon? It reminds me of a scene from THX 1138.

By: Jaana

Jaana — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:27:06 +0000

Hi Romerican! I’m a Finnish girl living in Targu Mures. It’s my first comment even though your blog has helped me quite a bit especially before but also after moving to Romania. It’s just great to read experiences of other foreigner in this strange country.. So first of all thank you, multumesc and köszönöm!

Now you got to the topic which has given me reason to lose my nerves couple of times during this last 2 months. So far I’ve received 2 packages from Finland and I still have no idea how the process really works. At least it’s a far from what I’ve used to.. Both times I got the notification, actually for the first package also after I had already managed to pick it up from the post. What’s confusing me most is the fact that different types of packages have to be picked up from different counters and always I’m trying the wrong one first. And for sure nobody is speaking English in the whole office. And the amount of paperwork, checking God-knows-what in numerous notebooks and reading my passport more careful than any customs officer has ever done.. Well so far I have managed to get the packages in the end, so I must have done something right, I guess.

If you don’t mind, I will link this to my blog (unfortunately in Finnish only) as Posta Romana is one of my favorite topics so far and you just know how to describe it right.

By: Romer!can

Romer!can — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 12:24:08 +0000

Oh, sure, here come the reports from Koloszvar, where everything is modern and perfect. Nyah, nyah, nyah! Heh. Well, okay, so we’re a little jealous you seem to be getting all this extra attention. I’m surprised you get advanced phone call warnings!! That is indeed spaga-worthy service. Surely you’ve done something to earn this treatment… she couldn’t possibly call everyone in town, so you’re doing something to attract her help. Tell us the secret!

By: jon

jon — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:40:26 +0000

Sorry to disappoint you guys…while living in the south of Romania, you’re description fit perfectly…to a tee. But here in Cluj, we do things a little differently. First of all 8-2 Monday thru Thursday…Friday 8-12. Come pick up your package at your convenience…and they hold it for 30 days before sending it back. Wait. It gets better. The lady (wonderful lady) calls us (we gave her our cell phone). She calls us when she sees the list for tomorrows deliveries has a package with our address on it. So, they never send out the little paper (which would take a week to get to us if they did). We get the call…and the next morning waltz into the VAMA and pick up the package which is waiting for us….only once have we ever had to pay a fee; usually 1 or 2 lei at the most.

By: Romer!can

Romer!can — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:02:08 +0000

Mihai – You’ve found a new excuse for directing your London connections to wire additional funds! That is a silver lining to the dark cloud. It is rather pathetic that Western Union operator software is in English, when it should be localized in Romaneste. On the other hand, I can suggest you switch to MoneyGram as the fees are lower.

So, in the meantime, how much will invoice Posta Romana for your consulting and training services?

By: Mihai from Brasov

Mihai from Brasov — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:56:04 +0000

Rarely I have to deal with Posta Romana but last summer i had to recive some money thrugh Western Union…So high spirited I arrived at Oficiul 6? from Brasov to get my little amount of cascaval.thinking that wouldn’t take more than 5 minutes. wrong assumption from my part. As the mult prea rujata lady behind the counter started to fill her computer form sho got stuck at step 2..uff:(..no problem she said..i’ll ask my collegue..start again step1..ok..step 2..couldnt pass it again…the software is in english they explained frankely… Wait they both said..we’ll call support ..15 minutes and 2 calls later we were still stuck at that awful step 2..what can a man do at this stage but help the 2 ladies in distress.. so i offered to translate the field names they were supposed to fill…Evrika ! 40 min passed and we finally beat that english monster of computer form
Gratefully they handed me the long waited marafeti and i was ready to leavewhen they asked me … ‘We have like a target at money handled from WU !?Come again’. Gladly was my response especially that I knew that form by heart at that point…and I like recieveing money;)
Conclusions:
1. Next day I asked my friend In London to send me more mony cause the ladies at the Posta had to reach their target ;)
2. Posta Romana: If we are incapable in dealing with customers at least let’s do it in teamwork.

By: Romer!can

Romer!can — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:47:44 +0000

HJ & JW – Welcome to the show! Say, I’m impressed, you get the old school treatment of a 1 hour window and only two days a week. DTS sounds like a fine city, a fine city indeed. You’ll have to keep us apprised of the cultural disconnects lurking about.

Reminds me of my first couple months of living in Romania, when I was in cartierul Poarta Schei la Brasov and received my first package. Well, received my first package notification. It was like being dunked in a vat of ice water. And took more than one attempt to try and actually collect my package. From there, things went down hill as the staff eventually came to recognize me and dislike my insurgent presence in their fiefdom.

By: HJ & JW in DTS

HJ & JW in DTS — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:07:53 +0000

You get 8 WHOLE hours?! *sigh* Drobeta Turnu Severin – Tues & Thurs, 10:30 – 11:30. Gata. Though I do have to say, thank goodness I’ve never had to pay over 3 lei. Small miracles.

By: Romer!can

Romer!can — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:33:04 +0000

Every time I can reasonably specify FedEx or UPS, I do so. From the US, their prices are a bit on the outrageous side for anything heavier than a birdfeather. Whereas the US post office charges quite reasonable rates. Things arrive in RO within 1 week… but you get notified after 2-3 weeks, if you’re in Bucuresti.

4-6 weeks if you’re elsewhere in the hinterlands where Posta Romana apparently delivers by ass. Someone should bonk the executive offers on the skull and tell them about teh intarwebz can improve business.

Interesting about Amazon. If those boys ever make a play for the RO market, I’d bet a nickel it would force a change. On the other hand, that could be exactly one of the reasons why Amazon *doesn’t* care about Romania.